‘And when Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd was gathered to him, and he was by the sea, and there comes one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him he falls at his feet, and pleads with him, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. I beg you that you will come and lay your hands on her that she may be made whole and live.” '
Again the source of this information remembers where they were when Jairus came with his request. Having crossed the lake they had landed and found themselves quickly surrounded by a great crowd on the seashore.
Jairus was ‘one of the rulers of the synagogue'. Strictly ‘ruler of the synagogue' would refer to the single ‘ruler' who controlled the administration and especially the organisation of the service at the synagogue, but there were others who helped in the general administration and running of the synagogue, a council of elders, and these were also called rulers, men of standing in the community. Jairus was probably one of these, ‘one of the rulers'. The emphasis on it would seem to infer that Jairus was an important man in the community. For ‘ruler of the synagogue' see Luke 8:49; Luke 13:14; Acts 13:15; Acts 18:8; Acts 18:17. See also Matthew 9:18; Matthew 9:23; Luke 8:41; Luke 18:18.
‘Named Jairus'. Omitted in a few manuscripts but probably by accident. It has huge support. The name Jair occurs in the Old Testament (Numbers 32:41; Judges 10:3), and in LXX of Esther 2:5 we have Jair translated as a similar form to here, ‘Jairus'. The mention of the name confirms the authenticity of the account, for names are rarely given in Mark.
‘There comes.' What was Jairus doing leaving his sick child? Why did he not send someone else? The answer can only be that things were so bad that he was desperate and was determined to act himself as a last resort. He wanted to exercise his personal authority and make a personal appeal. We can almost see him turning to to his wife and saying, ‘No. I will go myself'. He had watched by that bedside in tears. But hope had now gone. He had not thought of going to Jesus earlier, and perhaps someone had mentioned helpfully that ‘the prophet' was back. So in desperation this outwardly important man submerged his pride as a synagogue elder and sought the help of Jesus. He had enough faith in what He was able to do to seek Him out. Had he not done so his daughter would have died and gone to her grave unhelped. (Jesus would have been able to do no healing because of his unbelief). The lesson was clear. If the Synagogue would submit to Jesus then life would be made available to its offspring.
It is no accident that this story comes just before Mark's comment that Jesus ‘could do no mighty work' in ‘His own country', with a few exceptions (Mark 6:5). There few were willing to do what Jairus did, few sought Him out, for there He was seen as just a local boy and not as a mighty prophet.
‘He falls at His feet.' This important man was in such distress and despair that he forgot his dignity and came as a suppliant. He wanted Jesus to realise how concerned he was and how strongly he felt. Now any prejudices against Jesus had been thrown aside. Behind his action Mark probably saw the need for all Jewish rulers to fall at the feet of Jesus.
‘My little daughter is at the point of death.' The situation was very serious. The young girl was close to death. It was only that that had moved him to his present action. The emphasis on ‘little daughter' adds to the pathos. We learn later that she was twelve years old (Mark 5:42), almost at the point of womanhood. But she was his pet.
‘I beg you that you will come and lay your hands on her.' ‘I beg you' is read in, although the Greek assumes some such thing. Literally it is ‘in order that having come you would lay hands on her', signifying ‘please, having come, lay your hands on her' (the imperative use of ‘ina). Jairus had clearly seen Jesus in action and knew His healing method (see Mark 6:5; Mark 7:32; Mark 8:23; Mark 8:25).
‘That she may be made whole (‘be saved' - regularly used of healing) and she shall live.' Her life was in the balance. All depended on Jesus restoring her before it was too late, and he had faith enough to believe that He could.